I also want to say thanks to Craig for inviting me to this fine event. Was great to meet and put a face on some of the members of the forum. Pizzas were superb! The best NP pizzas I ever had, specially the fig one, I had "dirty" dreams about that pizza!!! I am sorry i could not make it on sunday, i was really looking forward to try the breakfast pizzas.I will post some pictures tonight from home. I wish for many more Texas Summits....nico

More members and the first mouth-water delicious pies that Craig made. Garlic scapes provided by Diana. Craig was in the zone. This is what Craig's one dough ball looked like right before it was baked into a pizza.

Wow, what a great start to a highly anticipated set of photos and re-caps. Great shots Norma, you're the Queen!

A real gathering of pizza royalty, all of you. I am truly sorry that I could not have attended.

To have been there to (finally) see Craig in action would have been fantastic. To have been able to see Craig, Chau and Omid all in various forms of mozzarella or pizza making would have been highly enlightening. I know I would have learned a tremendous amount from the incredibly talented people at the TPS II.

I'm really looking forward to more pictures and memories from the event.

Just fantastic. Everything that is good with pizza and camaraderie.

Love it. Hopefully I will see you all next year (assuming I am invited and there is a TPS III)

Norma, thanks for taking the shot of the refractory chamber dome in Craig's Acunto. From what I can see in the pic, the quality of the construction looks excellent. Offset bricks, tight fitting, minimal mortar.

As with the other attendees at TXPSII, I would also like to thank Craig for his hospitality and generosity in hosting that event. I wasn't even sure I would be able to attend. I had just returned from a week in Mexico and had a queasy stomach and digestive reactions from something I ate or drank toward the end of my Mexico visit. But I decided that come hell or high water, I was going to attend PSII. Also, I knew that there would be a physician in attendance. That was Scott, known on the forum as pizza dr. As it turns out, Scott is a plastic surgeon. Plan B in case Scott couldn't help me if needed was to drink copious amounts of wine and eat the pizzas that Craig and others would prepare. But I will say up front that Scott is one hell of a guy. I very much enjoyed our conversations. I also learned that he was born in Texas, the son of cotton farmers. It would be a distinct pleasure to see him again at any future Texas Pizza summit.

I also enjoyed meeting the other members in attendance. The fact that there were so many superstars from the forum in attendance in itself compelled my attendance at TXSII. Getting to meet Diana, who is as lovely and friendly as they get, and to meet and chat with Chau (and his girlfriend Michelle), Norma, the Hunt brothers (the founders and owners of Via 313), Omid (Pizza Napoletana) and Antoine (breadstoneovens), and to see Tom (tscarborough) and Gene (deck_deck) and Bill (wheelman) again, as well as meet some of the newer members, was a real treat. As one might imagine, there was a lot of conversation about pizza, but the attendees also shared a lot about their personal lives outside of pizza. And there was a lot of laughter.

I perhaps spent the most time with the Hunt brothers, Zane and Brandon. Knowing that they were masters at the Detroit-style pizza, and successful with selling that style of pizza in the Austin area (they now have two trailers), I peppered them with quite a few questions. But, I told them up front that I did not want them to tell me any of their trade secrets since that would prevent me from disclosing them on the forum even if I were to reverse engineer what they were doing on my own. That said, I really enjoyed my conversations with Zane and Brandon. They are sharp guys who are dead serious with what they are doing and their plans for the future. And they are funny guys. And they know the Detroit pizza scene very well. Zane told me that he and Brandon spent two years researching, testing and developing their brand of Detroit style pizza before going public with it. They were also full of praise for Norma's Detroit-style pizzas. Norma tried to deflect the praise, but the Hunt boys told her that they meant what they said about her Detroit-style pizzas, and that they were in awe of her versions of that style.

As for the pizzas themselves, there is not much more that can be said than has already been said, or seen from the photos to date and to follow. The members who worked the ovens performed masterfully and produced some of the best pizzas that can be found anywhere. One of the big surprises was how well the new General Mills 00 flour performed. That is likely to engender a lot of discussion and debate on the forum.

I hope that things pan out such that there is a TXSIII. But life has its twists and turns that often dictate outcomes in ways that were unforseen.

MEGA JEALOUS, YOU GUYS. Looks like a lot of fun. Chau: have you posted your mozzarella-making here on PM anywhere? I suppose I'm being lazy and can use the "search" function. I always think it's funny about making mozzarella and then using it on pizza — you start with a mess of jumbled-up curds, melt and knead them together into a ball, and then ... cut it all apart into a jumbled mess again. Heh.

That clam pizza really does look like a standout pie. Nice coloration, etc. Hope to visit CNG at some point. Hasta la pizza!

Mascarpone w/ a little bit of blue cheese mixed in, fresh figs, and a little pinch of Turkish chili flakes (Diana - dhorst brought them and can probably give you the name). Post bake, I added some fig preserves and prosciutto. It was excellent.

Mascarpone w/ a little bit of blue cheese mixed in, fresh figs, and a little pinch of Turkish chili flakes (Diana - dhorst brought them and can probably give you the name). Post bake, I added some fig preserves and prosciutto. It was excellent.

How do you come up with these pizza topping combination?

Wow! Sounds great! Also where do you get your figs? I didn't think they were in season?

Mascarpone w/ a little bit of blue cheese mixed in, fresh figs, and a little pinch of Turkish chili flakes (Diana - dhorst brought them and can probably give you the name). Post bake, I added some fig preserves and prosciutto. It was excellent.

Beautiful pies, as expected , and great write ups by Chau, Peter and Norma.I'm darn curious though about which, if any , of the pies pictured are with the General Mills 00.

Perry

Perry,

You literally can't tell them apart from the Caputo pies. I'm virtually certain these three were GM because I remember making the Margherita and the Mushroom to see how the flour performed, and I'm certain I handed Omid a GM ball when he made the pepperoni pie. There are 6 others mixed in, I can't tell which are which.

My fastest bake ever - Sunday morning. 1100F on the walls and 975F on the deck. The pie was very good. Soft as a feather pillow and not a bit of wetness or gummyness. I'm going to stick with 50-55 seconds, but it was fun to see how fast you go.

First pie on Saturday was caputo. 2nd was GM flour. I couldn't tell there was any difference in the look, texture, or taste between the two. I was very surprise when Craig told me the 2nd pie was GM flour.

Mascarpone w/ a little bit of blue cheese mixed in, fresh figs, and a little pinch of Turkish chili flakes (Diana - dhorst brought them and can probably give you the name). Post bake, I added some fig preserves and prosciutto. It was excellent.

I was thinking that it was Urfa, but now I'm thinking that it was Kirmizi or Maras. Guess I'll have to order all three and see how they compare. Shh. Don't tell my husband.

First photo is of Omid opening one of Craig's dough balls. I found it interesting how Omid opens dough balls. I also found it interesting how Craig and Omid stretch the dressed skin on either the metal or wooden peel before sliding the pizzas into the oven. I have to give that method a try when I can. Omid first used the wooden peel Bill (wheelman) made him.

Next photos are of Craig and other members making pizzas. The only think I now regret about the Pizza Summit II is that I didn't try to bake a pie in Craig's beautiful oven. Craig allowed any members that wanted to use his dough balls and bake pizzas in his oven.

It can be seen when the crumb of Craig's rim is torn apart how tender they are. They just melted in your mouth.

Myself and others members had a nice chat with Omid later Saturday evening. Omid's knowledge is amazing. I had to laugh about the siren singing women. I think Michelle, Bill and I all got a good laugh out of that. It is about Greek mythology and goes something like this if I recall right. The term "siren song" refers to an appeal that is hard to resist but that, if heeded, will lead to a bad conclusion. From the songs of the sirens in Greek mythology, whose bewitching song lured mariners to their doom. Maybe Omid can explain that better than I can if he wants to.